Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

This wide main thoroughfare, running north to south through the ancient city and connecting Piazza Venezia and Piazza del Popolo, is a showcase of wealth and fashion on ordinary days. The shops lining both sides of the street are supposed to display grains from the Mediterranean coast, olive oil from North Africa, ham from Gaul, and all the products that symbolize the empire's abundance.

At this moment, most of the doorways were either empty burlap hanging from the ceiling or simply closed. The air still held a complex mix of spices, fish sauce, and sweat, but the aroma of fresh bread and the warm scent of stewed beans had vanished.

People shouted for bread and fish, the shouts initially uneven, then becoming unified. Some groups began to move, and then a crowd of people who had come to join the fun gathered, moving forward like a muddy torrent.

"Bread and fish!!!"

They chanted slogans of unity and solidarity, and by the time they reached the foot of Paladin Mountain, the crowd had swelled to an alarming size.

"Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus!"

From the crowd, someone called out the emperor's full name, followed immediately by the next sentence.

"You have an obligation to feed us!!!"

These words ignited a wider outcry. Not only commoners, but also many minor nobles who had fallen on hard times and were also facing a food crisis roared in agreement. Obligation was repeatedly mentioned, evolving from an initial demand into a collective indictment.

But no one can deny that this was indeed Nero's responsibility. Even though she had no power, even though she was just a puppet, as emperor, she had to shoulder the responsibility of feeding her people.

News of the commotion spread like wildfire across Palatine Hill, reaching the intricate halls of the palace. Nero stood behind the marble balustrade, her face pale as she watched the shouts and gathering below.

"What are they shouting?" Nero murmured.

"Bread and fish, hunger and satiety." The demon Tsugumi stood beside her, chuckling softly.

“That shouldn’t be the case. It was just a declaration at a banquet. I didn’t even announce it in the Senate,” Nero said excitedly, seemingly finally realizing how reckless her declaration had been.

"Tsurugi-sama, leave Rome immediately! I've arranged for your evacuation!" Nero said anxiously, grasping Tsurugi's hand.

"Leave? Why leave?" The demon Tsugumi stared at Nero with her crimson eyes, letting out a delighted laugh.

"Isn't this a great performance opportunity?"

As he spoke, he took Nero's hand and led her to the highest point of the terrace. The incited people, seeing the emperor, roared in unison at her.

Tsugumi raised her hands, and then—

"Hakimi, green beans from the north and south!"

Changing styles doesn't stop the killing spree! : 159. A feast falls from the sky, a voracious appetite.

"Citizens of Rome, lift your heads and look up at the sky!!!"

Tsuruga grabbed Nero's hand and, amidst the shouts and roars of the crowd, raised it high, using her extraordinary charm to proclaim her victory amidst the thousands of doubtful, pleading, hateful, and desperate gazes.

"I am Dongjiang, the Roman consul appointed by the Emperor himself!"

"You're not qualified!!!" someone shouted.

"You're not even a Roman, go back to your country!!!"

With just a few words, the instigator in the crowd stirred up the emotions of the others, making them angry, agitated, and shouting.

The demon Tsugumi, seemingly unfazed by these words, appeared remarkably composed. Nero, on the other hand, became unsettled and paled under the barrage of criticism.

The young emperor did not yet understand the true meaning of power, nor did he know that a politician should maintain a moral vacuum.

However, Tsugumi doesn't really have the right to say anything about her.

After all, regardless of good or evil, he was a petty person.

Although he had indulged them, he had already made a list of the agitators in the crowd, as well as the nobles and members of parliament who opposed him.

Turn around—no, settle the score with them right now!

But now, as Dongjiang looked down at those hungry mouths, shouting mouths, cursing mouths, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"I will satisfy you." He revealed a pleased yet wicked smile.

Let me keep my promise and feed these Romans.

His hands slowly rose from his sides, palms facing upwards, fingertips trembling slightly, as if trying to grasp an invisible string. Like a medium communicating with an unseen dimension in a ritual.

The Book of Goetia, visible only to him, slowly opened, revealing a new magic within.

Heavenly Court Illusion

The magic of the Desire Ring is always similar; all the magic and purpose are to arouse people's deepest desires.

Having used the Tiger Talisman to isolate his evil, the demon Tsurugi had reached an extremely high level of mastery over Goetia magic.

The next moment, Tsurugi gently clapped his hands together.

There was no deafening roar, only a crisp, clean "snap".

The sound strangely pierced through all the noise, clearly reaching the ears of everyone present, as if striking the eardrums of their souls directly.

Immediately afterwards, the sky "split open".

There were no rolling dark clouds or thunderous roars, only countless fine ripples of light, centered on a certain point above Dongjiang's head, silently spreading out and instantly filling the entire sky above the square. At the center of each ripple, something began to seep out.

The next moment, delicious food rained down from the sky.

The first to fall were grains. Not the slightly smaller local wheat or barley that the Romans were familiar with. Instead, they were unfamiliar grains, plump and large, golden in color as if solidified by sunlight, pouring down like warm, hard golden rain, leaping and rolling on the stone slabs, piling up into heart-stopping mounds.

It was as if countless crops were growing along the roadside during the legendary golden age when the gods had never left. No need for cultivation or labor, the plump and sweet wheat seeds were dazzling to behold.

Mixed among the wheat grains were long, jade-like rice stalks, crops the Romans had only seen sporadically from Eastern merchants in Alexandria; and there were also unfamiliar beans, round like pearls and of various colors, exuding a fresh, grassy aroma.

Before the rains of grains had ceased, the fruits had already arrived. Large, bright red, juicy exotic fruits, round, spiky spheres, curved, bright yellow crescents, and clusters of berries as translucent as purple jade or emerald—these colors and shapes, never before seen in Mediterranean dietary guides, were like the gods' generous palette overturned, splashing brilliantly onto the canvas of reality.

They fell onto the haystacks, rolled under the feet of the crowd, but more often they smashed on the ground and turned into a puddle of jam. The strong and unfamiliar sweet aroma instantly overwhelmed the dust of the city and the sourness of hunger.

But this is just the beginning.

"Come on, satisfy them, give them even more!!!" Tsurugi laughed wildly.

"Satisfy their desires, satisfy their gluttony and cravings!!!"

The crowd erupted in revelry.

They grabbed whatever food they could get their hands on, starting with the first emaciated commoner who picked up a golden, unfamiliar grain of wheat, put it in his mouth, and bit it off with his remaining teeth. The feast then continued.

A noblewoman looked at the tomato that had landed in her hand. This unfamiliar fruit inexplicably held a strong allure for her. She hesitated and took a bite. The sweet and sour juice splattered on her pale cheeks like blood, yet it ignited a deeper longing within her.

They started eating, eating like mad!

Give us food, give us food, give us sustenance!

As a result, even more delicious food fell from the sky!

Large, brownish-brown tubers, fragrant with the scent of soil, spindle-shaped orange-red rhizomes, and irregularly shaped yet plump and firm lumps fall heavily, bringing with them a promise of abundance from the depths of the earth.

Then came an even more "strange" trend. Sealed, transparent containers printed with unreadable characters fell down, containing snow-white sugar or crispy foods. Brightly colored, neatly shaped bags of meat and long strips landed in the crowd.

As desires increase, more and more foods transcend time and fantasy, becoming increasingly tempting.

Now it wasn't just commoners and slaves; many nobles also joined the fray, scrambling for food.

They kept eating and eating, even when they were about to burst from being stuffed!

At this moment, whether slaves or nobles, they were all like a group of pigs in a pigsty, huddled together, lying on the ground, constantly rooting around in the mountain of food.

Life's most direct craving surges forth like a tidal wave, a craving far surpassing any emotional desire—life craves to eat, an action necessary to sustain the flame of life, and a fundamental desire that no one, regardless of wisdom, can escape!

As Tsurugi watched these things, seeing the flames of desire burning fiercely, the smile on his face grew even more delightful.

This fire of desire is truly wonderful, even better than the fires of Yiling!

The food created by this illusion is not real; it is merely a vision born from their intense craving for something.

These delicious foods provide them with no nutrition; on the contrary, they only drain their life force. The more they eat, the hungrier they become, eventually starving to death through constant eating!

Goetia magic is inherently malicious; the gifts of desire always conceal the devastation that desire inflicts on people.

Of course, Tsurugi had no reason to do such a thing, so the food scattered everywhere was indeed mixed with a large amount of synthetic starch that he had obtained from the UC universe.

These things, however, have no taste and don't look very appealing. Compared to a huge pile of grayish-white 'mud' falling from the sky and so many eye-catching delicacies, the latter is naturally more entertaining.

The demon Tsurugi really wanted to feed these people who were thirsty for food. After all, they had done nothing wrong. What wrong could it be if people wanted to be full?

"Dong Jiangqing, what's wrong with you...?"

Nero stared in astonishment at all this, then fixed his gaze on Tsugumi with eyes that gleamed with an eerie light.

"Are you really the son of the gods?"

In all the art and philosophy Nero knew, not even the priests of the Pantheon possessed such incredible power.

Perhaps only in an era when the gods still existed could such incredible phenomena be created at will.

"That's not important, Your Majesty." Tsugumi gently kissed Nero's hand, speaking with pleasure.

"The important thing is that I am loyal to you, loyal to the greatest Roman emperor in the world."

Nero's face flushed red instantly. Looking at the shy and innocent Roman beauty, Tsugumi's desire grew stronger.

At the same time, his desire to destroy grew even stronger!

—Isn't the true essence of desire to recklessly destroy more in pursuit of momentary pleasure?

'A deeper penetration of the gluttony pathway has been detected; you have gained the attention of Beelzebub!'

Tsuruga paused slightly. He wasn't surprised to be spied on by Beelzebub, but for some reason, he had a strange feeling in his heart.

Seeing that it was almost done, Tsugumi stopped her Goetia magic.

The shower of delicious food that had lasted for several hours stopped, the ripples in the sky gradually subsided, and the clouds returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

The delicious food vanished into thin air, while the commoners, nobles, and slaves, still feeling satiated, cried out in desperate pleas.

"No, no, I'm not full yet!!!"

"Let me have just one more bite! Let me have just one more bite!!!"

Pleading, anguish, and longing echoed across the square. Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought that the river had just spilled a huge pile of ice!

Well, the craving for food wasn't far off either, but in any case, Tsurugi had already finished her performance.

He grasped Nero's hand, and once again, his voice echoed throughout the land.

"Citizens of Rome, cheer for your Emperor! It is His Majesty Nero's piety and kindness that have brought you this heavenly bounty, and I, Tsurugi, the consul appointed by His Majesty, hereby make this promise to you!"

"You will soon have something to be satisfied with, and such a feast will come again in the future!"

"Because among the gods of the Pantheon, there will soon be a seat for our great Emperor Nero!!!"